Tile-based lenticular projection screen

ABSTRACT

A customer can install a lenticular projection screen without the need to hire a professional installer. A section of a home wall is smoothed flat and lenticular tiles are applied to it with adhesive together establishing a lenticular projection screen. Once the adhesive has dried, a short throw projector can perform an automatic alignment to gain the best possible picture from the lenticular screen. The installation material may be provided as a kit that a consumer can use to install the lenticular projection screen.

FIELD

The application relates generally to lenticular projection screens.

BACKGROUND

Lenticular screens for video projectors are formed with ridges, and may be particularly suited to three-dimensional (3D) projection. In addition, the lenses are particularly suited to increasing the gain when used with short throw projectors while aiding in diminishing the contribution from ambient light. In the case of 3D usage these lenses are arranged vertically. For gain enhancement, they are arranged horizontally. Such screens typically require a professional installer to establish the precise alignment required between the projector and the screen. As understood herein, providing a simple paradigm for an untrained end customer to mount such screens can reduce cost and allow more customers to enjoy the benefits of using a lenticular screen with, e.g., a short throw video projection system.

SUMMARY

An apparatus includes plural flat tiles, and on each of the plural flat tiles, plural rows of horizontal lenticular lenses arranged on the respective tile in parallel with each other.

The tiles can be integral with the respective lenticular lenses. Or, the tiles may not be integral with the respective lenticular lenses. An adhesive can be on a surface of each tile opposite the respective lenticular lenses. A vertical support holds the tiles in a vertical orientation. The vertical support can include a wall or a partition suspended from a wall or ceiling.

In another aspect, a method includes establishing a projection screen area on a wall. The method also includes disposing plural tiles on the projection screen area of the wall. The tiles together establish a projection screen, and the tiles are applied to the wall with lenticular grooves on each tile being parallel to each other, e.g., parallel to horizontal for some applications and parallel to vertical for other applications.

In another aspect, a system includes a vertical surface in a building, and lenticular tiles are applied to the vertical surface with horizontally-oriented lenticular lenses arranged thereon. A projector is positioned to project video images onto the lenticular tiles.

The details of the present application, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating steps in the tiled-screen installation process;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a tiled-screen with installation tools;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example system including an example in accordance with present principles;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the projection screen illustrating an example alignment initialization process, in which one or more edges of the projected pixel footprint are aligned with respective edges of the screen; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are respectively perspective and side views of a portion of the lenticular screen/wallpaper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure relates generally to computer ecosystems including aspects of consumer electronics (CE) device networks such as projector systems. A system herein may include server and client components, connected over a network such that data may be exchanged between the client and server components. The client components may include one or more computing devices including video projectors and projector screens, portable televisions (e.g. smart TVs, Internet-enabled TVs), portable computers such as laptops and tablet computers, and other mobile devices including smart phones and additional examples discussed below. These client devices may operate with a variety of operating environments. For example, some of the client computers may employ, as examples, operating systems from Microsoft, or a Unix operating system, or operating systems produced by Apple Computer or Google. These operating environments may be used to execute one or more browsing programs, such as a browser made by Microsoft or Google or Mozilla or other browser program that can access web applications hosted by the Internet servers discussed below.

Servers and/or gateways may include one or more processors executing instructions that configure the servers to receive and transmit data over a network such as the Internet. Or, a client and server can be connected over a local intranet or a virtual private network. A server or controller may be instantiated by a game console such as a Sony Playstation (trademarked), a personal computer, etc.

Information may be exchanged over a network between the clients and servers. To this end and for security, servers and/or clients can include firewalls, load balancers, temporary storages, and proxies, and other network infrastructure for reliability and security. One or more servers may form an apparatus that implement methods of providing a secure community such as an online social website to network members.

As used herein, instructions refer to computer-implemented steps for processing information in the system. Instructions can be implemented in software, firmware or hardware and include any type of programmed step undertaken by components of the system.

A processor may be any conventional general-purpose single- or multi-chip processor that can execute logic by means of various lines such as address lines, data lines, and control lines and registers and shift registers.

Software modules described by way of the flow charts and user interfaces herein can include various sub-routines, procedures, etc. Without limiting the disclosure, logic stated to be executed by a particular module can be redistributed to other software modules and/or combined together in a single module and/ or made available in a shareable library.

Present principles described herein can be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof; hence, illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are set forth in terms of their functionality.

Further to what has been alluded to above, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described below can be implemented or performed with one or more general purpose processors, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processor can be implemented by a controller or state machine or a combination of computing devices.

The functions and methods described below, when implemented in software, can be written in an appropriate language such as but not limited to C# or C++, and can be stored on or transmitted through a computer-readable storage medium such as a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage such as digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices including removable thumb drives, etc. A connection may establish a computer-readable medium. Such connections can include, as examples, hard-wired cables including fiber optics and coaxial wires and digital subscriber line (DSL) and twisted pair wires. Such connections may include wireless communication connections including infrared and radio.

Components included in one embodiment can be used in other embodiments in any appropriate combination. For example, any of the various components described herein and/or depicted in the Figures may be combined, interchanged or excluded from other embodiments.

“A system having at least one of A, B, and C” (likewise “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” and “a system having at least one of A, B, C”) includes systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.

Now referring to FIG. 1, a method for applying a lenticular screen as stiff or rigid tiles on a vertical support such as a wall in a home is shown. Commencing at block 101, a portion of the wall corresponding to the size and shape of the desired projection screen area may be masked using, e.g., tape. Proceeding to block 102, filler such as spackling paste may be applied to the wall and smoothed using, for example, a trowel to establish a smooth surface for the wall.

Moving to block 103, tiles of lenticular material are overlaid onto the wall, overlapping the masked area, and then scored along the mask edges using a straightedge and blade. The lenticular material may be established by tiles that may be separate from each other and laid onto a backing to hold them together for installation, with each tile including lenticular lenses arranged across each respective tile in horizontal rows.

Additional details are described further below. The mask on the wall may be removed after the lenticular material is scored.

Note that while horizontally-oriented lenticular lenses are shown and described herein for short throw projection enhancement, for 3D applications the lenses may be vertically oriented, with present principles applying equally.

It is to be appreciated that after step 103 the lenticular materials are scored along edges that define a lenticular screen having the size and shape of the masked area of the wall from step 101. The lenticular material may be removed from the wall and then at step 104 the tiles remaining within the scored area are selected. The lenticular tiles are then held against the wall once more at step 105 and applied to the wall using adhesive, using a level as described further below to ensure the lenticular lenses are horizontal. If desired, an edge appliance such as molding or other decorative feature may be applied at step 106 around the lenticular screen to establish a bezel around the screen.

FIG. 2 provides illustration of steps described above. As shown in the example of FIG. 2, each tile 201 can have a stiff backing mount 202 with a respective lenticular surface 203. The edges 204 of each tile may have tongue and groove or post and hole mating 205 to ensure the lenticular grooves are aligned across tiles as they are mounted together. A number of arrangements for the means of aligning tiles are possible. Tiles may be created with connections on all four edges or only on selected edges. Tiles may be offered in a set of different sizes to allow the projection screen to accommodate different wall sizes. An example of a basic tile size would be twenty inches measured diagonally with an aspect ratio equivalent to a standard 16×9 4KUHD television screen. This basic tile size can support wall screen sizes (measured diagonally) of (for example) sixty, eighty and one hundred inches. Adhesive 206 is then applied to the backside of each tile 206 to attach it to the area of the wall which has been prepared. A level may be used to ensure the tiles are aligned parallel to the floor. The adhesive used might not cure instantly to allow time to apply and align each tile to the adjoining tiles.

Now specifically referring to FIG. 3, an example ecosystem 10 is shown, which may include one or more of the example devices mentioned above and described further below in accordance with present principles. The first of the example devices included in the system 10 is a projection screen assembly 12. The projection screen assembly 12 can be established by some or all of the components shown in FIG. 3. The projection screen assembly 12 may include an active display or screen in that it contains addressable screen elements that establish screen pixels and that can be controlled to establish grayscale values. Or, the assembly 12 may be a passive screen. In any case, the present screen preferably is a lenticular screen. When implemented by an active screen for, e.g., establishing grayscale values on the screen itself in coordination with color light projected onto the screen from the projector, the techniques described in the present assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 9,640,143, incorporated herein by reference, may be used.

The projection screen assembly 12 can include one or more lenticular tiled screens or displays 14. The projection screen assembly 12 may also include one or more speakers 16 for outputting audio in accordance with present principles.

For active screen assemblies, the assembly can include at least one input device 18 such as e.g. an audio receiver/microphone or key pad or control keys for e.g. entering commands to at least one screen processor 20. An example active screen assembly 12 may also include one or more network interfaces 22 for communication over at least one network 24 such as the Internet, an WAN, an LAN, etc. under control of the one or more processors 20. Thus, the interface 22 may be, without limitation, a Wi-Fi transceiver, which is an example of a wireless computer network interface, such as but not limited to a mesh network transceiver, or it may be a Bluetooth or wireless telephony transceiver. It is to be understood that the processor 20 may control the screen assembly 12. Furthermore, note the network interface 22 may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router, or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephony transceiver, or Wi-Fi transceiver as mentioned above, etc.

In addition to the foregoing, an active screen assembly 12 may also include one or more input ports 26 such as, e.g., a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port or a USB port to physically connect (e.g. using a wired connection) to another CE device and/or a headphone port to connect headphones to the screen assembly 12 for presentation of audio from the screen assembly 12 to a user through the headphones. For example, the input port 26 (and/or network interface 22) may be connected via wire or wirelessly via the network 24 to a cable or satellite or other audio video source 28 with associated source processor 28A and source computer memory 28B. Thus, the source may be, e.g., a separate or integrated set top box, or a satellite receiver. Or, the source 28 may be a game console or personal computer or laptop computer or disk player. Yet again, the source 28 and/or the color video source discussed below may be cloud servers on the Internet, and may include and perform “cloud” functions such that the devices of the system 10 may access a “cloud” environment via the server 28 in example embodiments. Or, the server 28 may be implemented by a game console or other computer in the same room as the other devices shown in FIG. 5 or nearby.

An active screen assembly 12 may further include one or more computer memories 30 such as disk-based or solid-state storage that are not transitory signals, in some cases embodied in the chassis of the screen as standalone devices or as a personal video recording device (PVR) or video disk player either internal or external to the chassis of the AVDD for playing back AV programs or as removable memory media.

Still referring to FIG. 3, in addition to the AVDD 12, the system 10 may include one or more other device types. When the system 10 is a home network, communication between components may be according to the digital living network alliance (DLNA) protocol. Or, the projector and screen can be used in a public movie theater.

In one example, a front projector 32 such as but not limited to a Sony ultra-short throw (UST) projector may be used to project demanded images onto the front of the display 14. The example projector 32 may include one or more network interfaces 34 for communication over the network 24 under control of one or more projector processors 36. Thus, the interface 34 may be, without limitation, a Wi-Fi transceiver, which is an example of a wireless computer network interface, including mesh network interfaces, or a Bluetooth transceiver, or a wireless telephony transceiver.

It is to be understood that the projector processor 36 controls the projector 32 to undertake present principles. In this regard, the projector processor 36 may receive signals representing demanded color images from a color video source 38 which may be the same as or different from the video source 28 described previously and which may be established by any one or more of the source types described previously.

The projector processor 36 controls a lamp assembly 40 to project color light onto the screen assembly 12. The lamp assembly may be a laser lamp assembly or other type of color illuminator assembly. The projector may further include one or more computer memories 42 such as disk-based or solid-state storage.

As shown in FIG. 3, the screen 12 may be mounted on a substrate 44 such as but not limited to a wall or window.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example alignment initialization process of a calibration process. In some implementations, the edges of the projected image from the projector 32 are first aligned with edges of the screen 14. In the example shown, a left-most column 400 of projected pixels 402 can be projected onto the screen 14, it being understood that the screen 14 can be established using the tiled process divulged in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and thus constitutes the finally-installed arrangement of tiles.

Based on the image from the calibration camera 404, the optics of the projector 32 and/or the direction in which the projector 32 is pointed and/or the distance at which the projector 32 is from the screen 14 can be modified to align the left-most column 400 with the left edge 408 of the active portion of the screen 14 as shown, with the left edge being made more visibly manifest by causing the left-most one, two, or three columns of screen pixels to be all white. The projector 32 may be moved left or right by hand by a person observing the image of the column 400 and/or the column 400 itself as it appears on the screen. Or, the processor 406 may receive the image of the column 400 and control a motor 410 (such as a servo or stepper motor or other appropriate apparatus) to move the optics and/or housing of the projector 32 to align the column 400 with the left edge 408.

Note that in some implementations, the left most column 400 may not be aligned with the left edge 408 of the active portion of the screen but rather with a column of screen pixels that is inboard of the left edge and thereafter regarded as a virtual left edge by the system.

It may also be desirable to align the projector 32 with the top edge 412 of the screen 14, with the top edge being made more visibly manifest if desired by causing the top-most one, two, or three rows of screen pixels to be all white. In the example shown, a top-most row 414 of projected pixels can be projected onto the screen 14. The calibration camera 404 may capture the image of the row 414.

Based on the image from the calibration camera 404, the optics of the projector 32 and/or the direction in which the projector 32 is pointed and/or the distance at which the projector 32 is from the screen 14 can be modified to align the top-most row 414 with the top edge 412 of the active portion of the screen 14 as shown. The projector 32 may be moved hand by a person observing the image of the row 414 and/or looking at the row 414 itself as it appears on the screen. Or, the processor 406 may receive the image of the row 414 and control the motor 410 to move the optics and/or housing of the projector 32 to align the row 414 with the top edge 412.

Note that in some implementations, the top most column 414 may not be aligned with the top edge 412 of the active portion of the screen but rather with a column of screen pixels that is below the top edge and thereafter regarded as a virtual top edge by the system. Note further that the edges 408, 412 may alternatively be the physical edges of the screen if desired, when the physical edges are not coterminous with the edges of the active portion of the screen.

If desired, once the left and top rows of projected are aligned with the left and top edges as described, the right and bottom projected pixel column/row may be aligned with the respective edges of the screen according to the algorithm above by, e.g., expanding or shrinking the footprint of the projected image using, e.g., the optics of the projector or by other means. Or, once the first two edges are aligned, the remaining two edges of the projected image may be projected onto the screen with the underlying screen pixels thus being designated as the virtual right and bottom edge of the screen for calibration purposes.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate further details of the lenticular wallpaper described herein. As shown, lenticular tiles 500 include horizontal (when mounted on the wall) lenticular lenses 502 separate from each other by grooves 504. Each lens 502 can be horizontally elongated and transversely convex as shown. The lenses 502 are on a lens side of a substrate that has an opposed flat side 600 that is applied to the wall. The lenses 502 may be made separately from the substrate and applied thereto using, e.g., adhesive, ultrasonic bonding, heat bonding, etc., or the lenses 502 may be made integrally with the substrate. The lenticular wallpaper thus may be established by a single piece of injection molded plastic or other appropriate material onto which the lenses are formed.

The above methods may be implemented as software instructions executed by a processor, including suitably configured application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) or field programmable gate array (FPGA) modules, or any other convenient manner as would be appreciated by those skilled in those art. Where employed, the software instructions may be embodied in a device such as a CD Rom or Flash drive or any of the above non-limiting examples of computer memories that are not transitory signals. The software code instructions may alternatively be embodied in a transitory arrangement such as a radio or optical signal, or via a download over the internet.

It will be appreciated that whilst present principals have been described with reference to some example embodiments, these are not intended to be limiting, and that various alternative arrangements may be used to implement the subject matter claimed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus comprising: plural flat tiles; and on each of the plural flat tiles, plural rows of horizontal lenticular lenses arranged on the respective tile in parallel with each other.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tiles are integral with the respective lenticular lenses.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tiles are not integral with the respective lenticular lenses.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising adhesive on a surface of each tile opposite the respective lenticular lenses.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a vertical support holding the tiles in a vertical orientation.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the vertical support comprises a wall.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the vertical support comprises a partition suspended from a wall or ceiling.
 8. A method, comprising: establishing a projection screen area on a wall; disposing plural tiles on the projection screen area of the wall, the tiles together establishing a projection screen; and applying the tiles to the wall with lenticular grooves on each tile being parallel to each other.
 9. The method of claim 8, comprising: applying an edge appliance as a bezel on the wall around the projection screen.
 10. The method of claim 8, comprising: masking the wall with a mask to expose the projection screen area of the wall; scoring an edge of a projection screen area along edges of the projection screen area of the wall; and removing the mask from the wall;
 11. The method of claim 8, comprising: applying a filler to the wall; and smoothing the filler to create a flat surface.
 12. The method of claim 8, comprising: positioning a projector to project light onto the projection screen.
 13. The method of claim 8, comprising: positioning an ultra-short throw projector to project light onto the projection screen.
 14. A system comprising: a vertical surface in a building; lenticular tiles applied to the vertical surface, each tile having respective horizontally-oriented lenticular lenses arranged thereon; and a projector positioned to project video images onto the lenticular tiles.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the tiles each comprise a substrate that is integral with the respective lenticular lenses.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the tiles each comprises a substrate that is not integral with the respective lenticular lenses.
 17. The system of claim 14, comprising adhesive on a surface of each tile opposite the respective lenticular lenses.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein the vertical surface comprises a wall.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the vertical surface comprises a partition suspended from a wall or ceiling. 